Raiders!
by 4 the dragon hearted girl
Summary: Will, Halt and Horace must yet again join together to protect Araluen but to do that they may have to hurt a friend. When it all comes down to it who can they trust? Reviews appreciated
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own any of these characters they are all John Flanagan's genius inventions. Enjoy!**

Will dismounted Tug and calmly approached the clearing on foot. To the unpractised eye this manoeuvre would have appeared almost careless but Halt knew better.

From his position on a stump to Will's left, he sat unmoving. He had left Abelard several meters away hidden by foliage, giving him the silent signal before departing. By some unknown instinct Will sensed him though.

Without bothering to turn and face him Will called out, "Hello Halt! Just resting your weary body are you? You must be awfully tired the way you're puffing, I could hear you a mile away."

Halt scowled at his apprentice, knowing perfectly well that his breathing had been nearly nonexistent. There was no point telling Will that though, after all the boy had still managed to notice him even if it wasn't his breathing that had given him away.

Not wanting to be outdone Halt called out into the tree's beside him, "Crowley you old bumbler trying to sneak on us are you? You know I could sense you anywhere!"

"Apparently not Halt, since that's Horace and anyone could sense him two miles away!" Will told Halt, trying hard not to laugh at him as Horace entered to clearing looking slightly confused.

"You guys have no idea how hard it was to find this place! Crowley's directions were useless! Why are you laughing Will?" asked Horace.

"I will have you all know those directions were perfectly good," stated Crowley defensively before stepping out from behind a bush. Halt nearly fell off his stump seat and Will tried his best to quickly hide his shocked face behind the Ranger's hood he was wearing. "The idea of a secret hideout is that it's hard to find for your information Horace."

Horace guiltily trying to change the topic asked Crowley, "Where did you spring from surely you didn't get here when Halt arrived?"

"No," seeing Halt relax he continued "I got here long before he did. I sat three meters behind him for half an hour nearly bored to death. Good thing you came along Will otherwise I might have sat there forever. I am horrified by the thought that I sound like Horace though, it's unbelievable and I am going to pretend I never heard that," muttering angrily under his breath he continued. "To think, me sounding anything like that giant bear with two left feet." In return Horace ignored the final comment.

The next hour was spent setting up camp in the carefully hidden clearing. None of then talking much, instead they enjoyed the calm, relaxed silence that was rarely allowed with their jobs. Crowley was unsettled though and the reason for this meeting haunted his thoughts until he could bare it no more. Crowley asked everyone to meet him at the fire in five minutes when the sun first started to set below the horizon.

Once everyone had arrived at the glowing fire they sat there in silence basking in it's warmth. Will could feel the tension coming from Crowley but he knew better than to try an rush him into speaking so he told himself to wait. Horace on the other hand had not developed the patience of the other rangers and after five minutes of swatting the mosquitoes away from him he couldn't wait any longer.

"That's it I can't stand it any longer will someone please tell me why we are here?" proclaimed Horace. Hearing this Will secretly breathed a sigh of relief glad that he didn't have to ask the question himself. His relief didn't last very long once he heard Crowley's grave voice.

Every head turned to face him as Crowley spoke, "I didn't want to believe it but I have seen proof…"

"Proof of what Crowley?" Halt inquired.

"The Scandians are raiding again and they are attacking more than ever."

**I know what you are thinking, the Scandian's don't raid anymore because of the treaty but yet here they are. I am hoping to continue the story but it depends on how popular this one is so if you like it please review :) Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

Betrayal. It was like a bitter taste in his mouth making his tongue as dry as tough leather. Will tossed back and forth in his sleeping bag unable to make himself comfortable. It wasn't the rough sleeping that concerned, him he was used to it-though he would have appreciated if the pebble sticking into his hip would move-what bothered him was the shocking truth that Crowley had revealed.

As hard as he tried he couldn't believe that Erak would allow his subjects to raid Araluen after everything they had been through. Many people had witnessed the Scandian wolfships attack though. As much as he might like to he couldn't ignore the basic facts.

The treaty that Princess Cassandra signed with Erak didn't actually forbid the Scandians from doing small raid along the Araluen coastline as long as they didn't involve themselves in a full-scale war with the kingdom.

Scandia was asking for trouble by killing so many innocent civilians. From what Crowley had relayed to them was that the Scandians were attacking more brutally than ever. Scandians had never been hesitant to use their axes but this was pure slaughter. Anyone who didn't flee immediately when the wolfships moored was killed even if they were blindingly obedient.

So far no one had actually seen the Scandians fighting but when they returned to their villages everyone who had remained was dead. Currently they were only attacking small towns but their confidence in victory appeared to be growing. The raiding had only been occurring for the last ten days and already eight villages had been ransacked.

When Crowley first told Will this information his mind had gone into a frenzy trying to process everything. Eight raids in only ten days! That would mean there were around four ships in the area because no crew needed more than two towns worth of supplies in the space of ten days. Even though Scandians were known for their love of hoarding he could see no point in attacking more towns than necessary since the ships cargo holds could only fit so much.

Will closed his eyes and tried to make his mind go blank so he could get some rest for the journey tomorrow. This was going to be a long night.

The sun had just risen in the East when Halt, Horace and Crowley arose to the smell of freshly brewed coffee. Each face looked grumpy and sleep-deprived but the coffee stirred something inside them like an animal instinct drawing them to the newly stoked fire.

They had all barely slept a wink last night but no one wanted to be the first to brooch the depressing topic of the Scandian's. So they all took their coffee from Will slapping him on the back with silent gratitude. Arranging themselves as comfortably as possible they sat sipping their coffee.

When each cup had been drained and refilled al least once they set down their mugs each waiting for another to speak. Yet again it was Horace who dared to voice his opinion.

"Well I'm ready for breakfast!" stated Horace, his usual energetic attitude returning. "Who wants bacon?" grinning at their friends constant hunger they all agreed they could do with some food for thought.

While Horace diligently prepared the food Halt decided the time for contemplating was over.

Halt begun "Now I know that it's hard to think that Erak has betrayed us but we have to look at the bigger picture here. There are other things to consider; the one hundred archers in Scandia may be in danger, which area is likely to be hit next and how can we stop them."

Crowley backed him up "Your right Halt I think what it all comes down to is how much we can still trust Erak, as the Oberjarl he has responsibility to his people maybe they were desperate. It is quite possible that Erak doesn't even know what's happening the raiders could simply be going against his wishes hoping that he doesn't realise."

Horace ever the warrior was next to speak, "There's no point hanging around here like a wet wig thinking of everything that could go wrong I'm for going to meet the threat."

"A wet wig?" Halt spluttered trying not to burst out laughing. "I think you mean a wet week Horace."

"Oh well…You know what I mean!"

Will smiled thinly trying to hide his concern; he hadn't even considered the archers. If they were harmed it would be his fault, in fact if anything went wrong with this treaty he would be to blame. Instead of his name, Will Treaty, being a medal of honour it would be shameful.

After breakfast that morning they had said their goodbyes to Crowley saying they would keep him informed through messenger birds that he had set up. Crowley had alerted them that the villagers near Caraway fief could be quite hostile to newcomers. He wished he could join them but he had other duties to attend to at Castle Araluen. Before leaving he hugged them all, he surprised himself how sad he felt at seeing them go after all it was something he lived with everyday but maybe that's why it hurt so much.

Kicker, Abelard and Tug trotted at a steady gait towards the direction of Caraway fief. Abelard and Tug could have gone faster but Halt and Will held them steady knowing that after awhile Kicker wouldn't be able to keep up if they let went much faster.

No one bothered talking over the sound of the horses hooves hammering over the ground, even if they could have talked what was there to say. When it all came down to it Horace was right, there was nothing they could do until they got there.

**A massive thanks to everyone who has read and commented so far I love getting feedback about my stories. Hope you continue to enjoy them! I may take a little while to update so thanks for your patience.**


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